Saturday, July 31, 2010

We (Jill, me, Chris and her sister, Jen) took the Marvelous Minis class at Archivers today. We had a great time making little 3”x3” cards. These will be great at gift tags or a nice card for that person that you like enough to hand-make the card, but not enough to put a lot of materials into it. :-)

Friday, July 30, 2010

Today is our 16th anniversary!! This is the card I made for Bo. I used the Stampin’ Up Artifacts set. The base is charcoal gray cardstock cut to 5 7/8” x 11” (so the card will fit in a 6” x 6” envelope). I scored and folded it at 6”. I cut a piece of tan cardstock 3” x 5 7/8” and stamped it with Cobblestone Vivid! ink and Forest Moss and Aged Mahogany Distress inks in a random pattern. I cut two pieces of burgundy cardstock 1/2” x 5 7/8” (I was running short on that color) and adhered them to each side of the tan cardstock. Around that, I tied a burgundy ribbon and attached a key from the Tim Holtz Lock Keys Alterations set. That section was then adhered to the card base. I stamped the heart in Black Archival in and colored it with Crimson Red and Black Prismacolor watercolor pencils and blended with a Dove Blender. The Always sentiment is from the My Sentiments Exactly! Romance Sentiments set and is stamped in Aged Mahogany Distress ink. Both were attached using Thermo O Web Foam Squares. The heart clasp was cut from burgundy cardstock on the Cricut using the Plantin Schoolbook cartridge set on 1” and attached with a matte silver square brad. On the inside of the card, I attached a piece of tan cardstock cut to 4 1/4” x 5 1/2” and stamped with a Happy Anniversary sentiment.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Today I used the Fall Whimsy and Touch of Nature sets. The card base is ivory from a 4”x 5.5” card value pack by Halcraft. For the background section, I used a piece of gloss paper by Archivers cut to 3.5” x 5” and colored it with Adirondack Alcohol inks in Red Pepper, Sunset Orange, Meadow, Wild Plum and Sunshine Yellow. I stamped the leaf and acorn images on ivory cardstock with Black Archival ink and colored them with Bic Mark It pens in…get ready…Key Lime, Forest Green, Harvest Orange, Honey Brown, Lemon Bliss, Summer Melon, Adobe Orange, Woodsy Brown, Rambunctious Red and Prairie Berry…whew! I cut them out and adhered the leaves together. I used ribbon from Europa Imports and tied it around the gloss paper section in a bow, mounted the leaves and acorn to it and stuck it to the card base. The sentiment is from the Touch of Nature set and is stamped with Black Inkadinkado ink and edged with Rusty Hinge Distress ink…’cuz I just have to use DI on everything!

I also finally finished my glass and solder project…thanks to Bo fixing my soldering iron. I decided to make it a brooch instead of a pendant. I had to take the picture at an angle so the glass wouldn’t reflect, but you get the idea.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

I spent my spare time working on some pottery (which of course will take forever to be finished!), so I created this little tag as my Stampin’ Up project for today. I used the Be Happy set. The tag is stamped in Peeled Paint Distress ink on ivory cardstock from my scrap folder, so I don’t know who made it. The ‘Enjoy’ is stamped with Dusty Concord Distress ink on ivory cardstock. I colored in the dots on the tag with a Dahlia Purple Prismacolor Verithin colored pencil and attached the sentiment to the tag with a foam square by Therm O Web. I stamped To and From on the back. Finally, I punched a hole in the end and added a purple ribbon.

Monday, July 26, 2010

Today’s Stampin’ Up set is On Gossamer Wing. I used the Inspiration Sheet for this set to get the idea for this card…kinda cheating, but I was short on time. :-) The card base is ivory from a value pack by Halcraft. I stamped the dragonfly, flowers and leaves onto ivory cardstock in Archival Black ink. I colored each with Prismacolor watercolor pencils and blended with a Dove Blender pen. I edged the dragonfly and card base with Vintage Photo Distress ink. I stamped the sentiment onto green cardstock with Black ink by Inkadinkado. I embossed a metal soda can tab with Ranger Copper embossing powder to use as a buckle. I cut brown ribbon long enough to wrap around the green cardstock and ran it thru the ‘buckle’. I wrapped the ribbon around the green cardstock and secured both ends with adhesive. I attached the dragonfly piece to brown patterned cardstock by Stampin’ Up and tore one edge. I attached blue paper behind each end and attached the entire thing to the green cardstock above the ribbon. The flowers and leaves were then attached to the green cardstock and the assembled piece was attached to the card base. It’s hard to see in the picture , but I highlighted the dragonfly, flowers and leaves with a Clear Star Gelly Roll pen.

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Today was our monthly craft party. Jill, Kay, Chris and I were in a card making mood. The first photo is of the cards that Jill, Kay and I made. Chris left before I could get pictures of hers, so I had her send in a pictures of her creations…which were very nice and convinced me that I need to get black glitter.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Today, I used the Feels Like Spring set to start a glass and solder pendant (like the pendants I created at the Full Spectrum class…sorta). I used two pieces of 1.5” x 1.5” Memory Glass. One one piece I stamped a diamond background in Vibrant Violet Staz-on ink. I stamped the flower shapes on white paper using Dusty Concord and Peeled Paint Distress inks. I punched them out with the Stampin’ Up punch made for the Feels Like Spring set. I arranged the paper flowers between the two pieces of glass and ran copper tape around all four sides. I cut a piece of copper tape in half length-wise with decorative scissors to created a wavy edge and adhered that around the front of the piece. Next I put Blu-Glass flux by Canfield Technologies on all the copper and soldered all copper tape (front and back) with lead-free (important!) solder by Canfield. I had to stop due to technical difficulties with my soldering iron…a big chunk broke out of the tip…not sure how that happened! I’ll finish it once I get a new soldering iron…or steal Bo’s!

Today was also the 3rd Annual World-wide Photo Walk. I participated in Colorado Springs. We walked from the Pioneer Museum to the Old Depot District and back. Here are a few of the photos I took.

Friday, July 23, 2010

Today, I used the Both Way Blossoms set to create what I will use as a coaster. I took a piece of pre-cut craft wood from Nicole and painted it with white gesso paint by Basics. While that was drying, I stamped the script background onto white tissue paper using Basic Black Stampin’ Up Classic ink. I adhered that onto the wood with the wet gesso. I stamped the flowers onto white tissue paper with Black Staz-on ink and colored them with Prismacolor Watercolor Pencil and used a Dove Blender to blend the colors. I adhered them to the background with a glue stick. Once the gesso and glue were dry, I sprayed the entire thing with Minwax Fast-Drying Polyurethane in Clear Satin. I use this stuff on my bookmarks also to make them water resistant. I probably should have use Staz-on ink for the script as it started running once it hit the wet gesso. I liked the look, so it was fine, but if you want a nice crisp look, make sure you use waterproof ink.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Today, I used the Country Morning set to create this little number, which I call “Reminisce about the Blues”.

The base card was light blue cardstock (pre-made) that has been highlighted with Broken China Distress ink. The image was stamped onto white cardstock with Black Stazon ink and colored with Prismacolor Watercolor pencils. I used a Dove Blender to blend the colors. This was edged with Broken China Distress ink and mounted on to a background made by running a piece of aluminum from a Beneful dog food container thru the Cuttlebug using the Script folder. I colored it with Sail Boat Blue Adirondack Alcohol ink and sanded off the raised portion. The sentiment at the bottom is from the set and was stamped with Basic Black Stampin’ Up Classic ink and edged with Broken China Distress ink. A brad with a blue gem was mounted in the bottom left corner after the sentiment was adhered to the card base. The Reminisce sentiment is from the Making Memories Express It set and was stamped onto white cardstock and mount inside a frame using brads. The frame and brads were all colored with Sail Boat Blue Adirondack Alcohol ink. Ta Da!

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Today’s card was made with the Botanicals set. For the base, I cut a piece of green cardstock 7”x10” to make a 5”x7” card. On a piece of tan cardstock, I stamped the text in Brown Bag ink by Close To My Heart and then the leaf in New England Ivy ink by Close To My Heart. I covered the entire thing with Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint and let dry. I stamped the other images onto the base card in Brown Bag ink and the sentiment in New England Ivy ink . Once the leaf image was dry, I tore around the edges and highlighted the piece with Tea Dye Distress ink. I torn a piece of darker green cardstock and crinkled it all up, then highlighted the edges and wrinkles with Tea Dye Distress ink. I did the same thing with the tan cardstock on which the sentiment is stamped. I tied a piece of twine around the leaf piece and adhered everything to the base. After highlighting the entire card with Tea Dye Distress ink, I added a couple copper brads to finish it.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Today I used the Flora & Fauna set. I stamped the leaf in Bundled Sage Distress ink on light green cardstock that was cut to 5 3/4” x 11” and scored at 6” to create a card with a 1” inset on the cover. I stamped the flower on velum paper with Victorian Violet Archival Brilliance ink. The velum was cut to 5” wide and torn at the bottom. A piece of green ribbon was attached with copper, flower-shaped eyelets and purple twine was tied thru the eyelets. The sentiment is by Studio G and is stamped on the light green cardstock with Victorian Violet Archival Brilliance ink. The corners were rounded using a punch and the edges were highlighted with Bundled Sage Distress ink. The embellishment was adhered to the card base with pop dots to add dimension. Finally, I added a little copper clasp with a round brad to hold the card closed.

Monday, July 19, 2010

I’ve been making an attempt to use all the Stampin’ Up sets I recently purchased at a yard sale and thru Craig’s List. Today’s card is using a stamp from the Travel Scrapbook set. I stamped the image on a bisque colored Stampin’ Up cardstock (I don’t know the color name) in Basic Black from a Classic Stampin’ Up pad. I then colored the image using Prismacolor colored pencils and cut the cardstock to 3 1/2” x 3 1/2”. That was mounted on to a 3 3/4'” x 3 3/4” piece of Cabernet Cover cardstock by The Paper Company. This was then mounted to a 4 3/4” x 5 3/4” piece of Black French paper by Paper Pizazz. I took a piece of Black and White ribbon by Micheals and sprayed it with Caramel Apple Glimmer Mist. Once dry, I mounted that to the bottom of the Black French panel. For the card base, I took a piece of Cabernet Cover by The Paper Company and cut it to 6” x 11” then scored and folded at the 6” mark. The makes a 6” x 6” card back and a 5” x 6” card front. I then mounted the Black French panel to the 5” front. I cut two 1” circles from tan cardstock (vendor unknown) and glued them together for strength. On the front, I swiped the circle in one direction with Cobblestone ink by Vivid!. I then stamped a floral image (vendor unknown) with Versamark and embossed with clear embossing powder. Once cool, I covered the circle with the Cobblestone ink. I mounted the circle to act as a closure with a square brad. The sentiment is from Making Memories Express It metallic stamps on the bisque Stampin’ Up cardstock, which I cut into a tag shape, edged with the Cobblestone ink, and attached to the brad with tan twine.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

I decided I really needed to use all the Stampin’ Up sets that I’ve purchased recently (thanks Craig’s List!), so I created these bookmarks.

On this one, I created the background using the Wrinkle Free Distress technique with Tumbled Glass and Spun Sugar Distress inks. The stamps are from the Botanical Blooms set. The base stamps and sentiment were done with black Archival ink and the flowers were down with Worn Lipstick, Mustard Seed and Bundled Sage Distress inks. I later added matching ribbon.

The first bookmark was sprayed with Vanilla Breeze Glimmer Mist and highlighted with Faded Jeans and Antique Linen Distress inks. The fern is from the Nature Prints set and the sentiment is from the A is for Adorable set. I stamped and embossed the fern with Antique Linen Distress embossing powder. The sentiment is stamped in Faded Jeans Distress ink. I added another layer of Vanilla Breeze Glimmer Mist and the coordinating ribbon.

The second bookmark was stamped in black ink using the Iris stamp from the Long Stemmed set. I colored the image with Prismacolor Watercolor pencils and blended with a blender pen. The sentiment is from a set of Albert Einstein quotes…and for the life of me, I can’t remember the vendor. The background was colored with Milled Lavender and Crushed Olive Distress inks. Then coordinating ribbons were added to complete the tag.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

This one was for my husband, who turned 46 today. I used cardstock from Tim Holtz’ Lost and Found collection for the card base. The graphics are from the Domestic Goddess, A Proper Gentleman and Communiqué papers from Graphic 45. I stamped the rest of Happy Birthday with a stamp in the Make a Wish Quotes by Fiskar. The background is a piece of metal from a container of Beneful dog food (reuse & renew!) that was embossed using the Bricked Tim Holtz Sizzix folder. I colored this piece with Adirondack alcohol inks (sorry, forgot which colors). The inside was created by edging a piece of tan cardstock with Vintage Photo Distress ink and stamping it with a radio stamp from Anita’s, The Blah Blah Blah stamp from Stampabilities and a sentiment stamp of unknown origin.

This one is for my father-in-law. The stamp is a Riley the Moose that was stamped on light green cardstock and colored with colored pencils. The sentiment was stamped on the same cardstock. Both were adhered to a plaid print paper. The ribbon was glued to the back of the plaid paper before it was adhered to a plain white card base. The smaller piece of ribbon was tied on to create a ‘bow’.

This in is a spare that I created because I wanted to use the wheat stamp by Inkadinkado. The background is tan cardstock sprayed with Caramel Apple Glimmer Mist. The used tan, brown and green cardstock…not sure of vendor. The wheat is embossed onto the green cardstock with Antique Linen Distress embossing powder. The edges of the green cardstock were rounded with a punch and edged with Peeled Paint Distress ink. I stamped the sentiment onto the tan cardstock, cut an X into the brown cardstock and rolled the edges back to show the sentiment. The sentiment is from the Express It magnetic set by Making Memories. Finally, I added some green Mosaic Crystal Stickers by Mark Richards as accents.

Friday, July 16, 2010

I finally finished the picture book! The cover was sprayed with Caramel Apple Glimmer Mist and the edges were brushed with Vintage Photo Distress ink. I printed the titles on the printer in brown ink and sprayed them with Caramel Apple Glimmer Mist. The photo of the power plant is adhered on a background of handmade paper that has been stained with Vintage Photo Distress ink. The hinges are Grundgeboard from the minis set that was painted with Antique Bronze Crackle Paint. The brads were pounded to rough them up. The clasp is made with leather strips and a ceramic bead.

The last page was made with a Caramel Apple Glimmer Misted background highlighted with Vintage Photo Distress ink. The sentiments are from The Great Outdoors collection by Reminisce and another set for which I have no info. All of the sentiments, photos and mats were edged with Vintage Photo Distress ink.

Thursday, July 15, 2010

Jill and I took a class yesterday on making stained glass pendants. This class involved using one piece of stained glass and solder. The solder is built up around the glass to create an original, textured piece.

Tricks of the trade.

Jill wearing one of her creations.

My pendants. The piece on the right is clear glass with black inclusions.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Here are two more pages that I’ve finished in the photo books. One more to go and the cover and I’m finished!!

This page was done with a background created with Tattered Leather and Olive Vine Glimmer Mists. The photos are mounted to tan cardstock that was coated with Olive Vine Glimmer Mist. Both the photos and mounts are edged with Walnut Stain Distress Ink. The embellishments are from Reminisce The Great Outdoors and Camping collections and Tattered Angels Outdoor Calling Cards. The calling card was coated with Caramel Apple Glimmer Mist and tied with twine. The stamped sentiment is from the Sandy Lion Time Flies set.

This page was done with a background created with Olive Vine Glimmer Mist. The photos are mounted to printed paper from the My Mind’s Eye La Paperie collection. Both the photos and mounts are edged in Bundled Sage Distress Ink (I love this color). The embellishments are from the Reminisce The Great Outdoors collection and the dragonfly is a brad from Creative Impressions.

Saturday, July 10, 2010

This is a birthday card I made for Larry, who will turn 50 on 11 July!! I used a brown card base. The images are embossed with Distress Embossing Powders in Vintage Photo and Pine needles on tan paper. The tree image is from the Utopiary set by Inkadinkado. The sentiment is from the Make a Wish Quotes set by Fiskars. I inked the edges of the tan paper with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and attached them to the card with brads which I hammered with a Tim Holtz texterizing hammer (love that thing!) Finally, I added a piece of green twine tied in a bow.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Jill and I took a Viking weaving class at Full Spectrum. The weaving was easier than I thought and only requires a rod or dowel (we used a 3/8” allen wrench), a piece of wood with decreasing size holes, basic jewelry tools and the wire (of course).

Sunday, July 4, 2010

I’m working on photo books for everyone that went on the power plant hike. I’m using a white, cardboard tag-shaped book as the base and doing each set of pages differently using Glimmer Mist, Distress Ink, stickers, stamps and fiber…and whatever else strikes me at the time. I’m doing each section on all the books at the same time, so it’s going slow. Here are my first 3 sections:

Thursday, July 1, 2010

This is a slideshow of the photos taken during our 3-day backpacking trip to the Skaguay Power Plant in Colorado...and what has kept me from creating lately...well, other than creating this slideshow. :-)